


Mind the Gap

by pollitt



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-10
Updated: 2011-11-10
Packaged: 2017-10-25 22:29:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/275544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pollitt/pseuds/pollitt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A homecoming</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mind the Gap

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Maverick and Data for the beta.
> 
> This was inspired by a recent train trip, and is the second fill from a writing poll. This is for those who voted for the detective and the doctor.

The tall silhouette, clad in a long coat with a scarf wrapped around once and knotted--it was the first thing that John saw as he stepped off of the train onto the platform. He’d been so distracted he didn’t realize the crowd ahead of him had stopped, and he collided with the man in front of him.

“I’m so sorry,” he said as he and the gentlemen stumbled forward, both barely keeping their balance.

“Watch it,” the man said angrily, turning.

“I didn’t--” John started to say but, his words were drowned out by a louder, slightly rough-accented voice and a hand at his elbow.

“Easy there, John. War wound giving you troubles again?” Sherlock insinuated himself between John and the man as he addressed the gentleman directly. “Sorry about my friend, sir. He took a bullet in Afghanistan and his leg’s never been the same. Seizes up sometimes.”

“I. That’s. That’s quite alright.” The man’s anger was swiftly leaving his face and as the crowd started to move again, he gave Sherlock and John another look before walking off.

“Thanks, mate.” Sherlock waved, a goofy smile on his face. When he turned back to face John the smile had changed to one that was less theatrical to one that was more intimate, one that crinkled the skin at Sherlock’s eyes. “John. Welcome home.”

“Sherlock. I didn’t expect you, what are you doing here?” He handed his bag to Sherlock and felt the corner of his mouth twitch in a grin when their fingers brushed. Lingering two beats longer than necessary but not so long as to be noticeable. “I would’ve thought you’d be on some case or another.”

“We’re actually on our way to one straightaway.” Sherlock answered, scanning the crowd of John’s fellow travelers.

“Ah,” John said, before he could think.

Sherlock’s head whipped back in John’s direction. Eyeing John as though he were some vital clue.

His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed as he scrutinized John. Before John could react in the slightest, Sherlock’s face took on a look of surprise and something that, if John had to put it to words, looked almost like abashment.

“John, I,” Sherlock started. Stopped. Almost stuttered. He cleared his throat. “Naturally I am also glad that you’ve returned home, and my appearance here at the station allows me to see you sooner than if you were to have taken transportation back to our home and I had been there.”

It was with great effort that John held back a full smile. It was still so rare to see the great Sherlock Holmes flustered, to see him publicly react to such an ordinary moment.

“Sherlock, it’s fine.” John curled his hand around Sherlock’s shoulder. “You say we have a case.”

“Yes, a quick intriguing one.” In the blink of an eye Sherlock was back to form--his shoulders back and a manic, brilliant energy thrumming just beneath the surface.

To John’s great surprise, Sherlock’s features changed again. He looked out at the emptying platform and then to John, a smirk lifting one side of his mouth. “But first, I’d be remiss not to say your absence, though short, was greatly felt.”

It was the closest thing to a public declaration of love that Sherlock had ever said.

“I missed you, too,” John said, moving his hand from Sherlock’s shoulder to his jaw as Sherlock leaned forward and kissed him.

As the train’s whistle sounded and the cars began to pull out of the station, John wrapped his arms around Sherlock’s shoulders and pulled him closer, turning his head slightly to deepen their (very public to the few bystanders that were still on the train platform) kiss.

  



End file.
